Glassware is frequently sold in cardboard containers which wrap around two, four or possibly more glasses and hold them without allowing them to clink together. Typically, the containers have a top, a pair of sides and a bottom joined together to form a sleeve surrounding the glasses. Glasses are put in the sleeve in a side-by-side arrangement. A reinforcing wall extends vertically from the top to the bottom to separate the pairs of glasses and to keep the bottom from sagging. Additional tabs keep the adjacent glasses of each pair from touching. When glassware is ready for shipping, a worker assembles the cardboard container and puts the appropriate number of glasses in it.
One such container is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,314 to Kadleck et al. The Kadleck et al. container arrives at the glassware factory in a flattened state with retaining tabs extending outward from the top and bottom panels. In order to fill the container, a worker must erect it and insert the glassware. Once the glassware is in place, the worker must fold locking tabs at the top and bottom of the container through about a 135.degree. angle and insert them into narrow slots in the reinforcing wall. Each narrow slot prevents the locking tab captured in the slot from moving in either direction. Manipulating the locking tabs into these narrow slots is time consuming and tiresome.